Manifolding machine



June 27, 1933 w. G. BoRcHERs MANIFOLDING MACHINE Filed June 17, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

WILL/AM G. BO HERS. BY@

ORNEY June 27, 1933 w. G. BoRcHL-:Rs

I MANIFOLDING MACHINE Filed June 17, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllllll l t (511ml IN VEN TOR.

Patented June 27, 1933 narran stares earner ori-ICE WILLIAM G. BORCHERS, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGN'OR T0 AUTOGRhAPHIG REGISTER COMPANY, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OIEA NEW JERSEY M ANIroLnING MACHINE i Application led June. 17,

This invention relates to manifolding machines, and more particularly to machines of the type which are adapted to retain a record copy of the transactions in refolded condition in the register for auditing purposes.

An object of this invention is to provide means for controlling and guiding the worksheet strips so as to avoid sharp bends in the stretches of the strips which would tend to cause the strips to curl, and thereby fail to act in the intended manner in the record compartment. y n

Heretofore in this type` of machine, separating and tensioning means were provided at the introductory side of the platen in the form of guide rollers, one for each strip and cooperating with these guide rollers there were provided separating and tensioning ngers to properly control the strips. l/Vith suoli devices it was found that a pack of stationary could be run through the machine continuously to issue some of the strips and store one or more of the strips in the record compartment without mishap; that is to say withoutv` the stored strip or strips becoming balled up in the record compartment.

This test did not, however, reproduce the conditions of actual use where the strips are fed intermittently and are naturally allowed to rest undisturbed over nightpor in long intervals of disuse. Hence, while in the above test the record strip acted as intended in the refolding compartment, it would not doso invariably under actual working conditions` Accordingly, other tests were madey and it was found that much of the diiiiculty is caused by the stretches of the strips eXtending between the pack and the platen becoming more or less permanently set in a sharp bend or curve over night or during long intervals of disuso. This resulted in the strips having a tendency to curl, and hence in the record compartment theywould not properly reiold. y

yThis diculty has been obviated by the present invention by providing an improved guiding means atthe introductory side of the platenwhioh does not produce a sharp bend in the worksheet strips, and by providing a 1930. serial No.- 461,666.

separating and tensioning device at the delivery side of the platen.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one form of this invention, that at pres-ent preferred: v

Figure 1 isa top plan view ,of a refolding register, withV the top of the compartment removed showing the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the register to which the present invention is applied; Y l

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of' the platen and feed mechanism on an enlarged scale7 showing the relation of the various parts;

Fig. t is a detailed view showing in section the rear end of theplaten and the operating end of the presser plate; y

Fig. 5 is a erspective view of the tensioning roller and its mounting;

Fig. 6 isa perspective -view of the presser. plate; and y 7 is similar to Fig. 4, but of another specie. o h

The register shown in the'accompanyingdrawings,in common with other registers of the same type, comprises side plates 10 and bottom plate 11 and a platen frame 12 over. which .worksheets are fed from a supply compartment 13 to a writing space defined bya margin plate 14: located above the platen. At the forward end of the platen there is provided feed-` mechanism comprising feeding annuli 15 against which webs`16, 17 and 18 are pressed by a pressure roller 19. The pressure roller is urged against the annuli or the intervening strips by arms 20 connected to springs 21 (see Fig. 2), and is enclosed by a hood 22, the front end of which has a tear-oft' knife 23. The vfront end of the register has va recordstrip compartment Q4 having a cover 25 vwhich may be swung upwardly andy forwardlyrabout a hinge 26 to give access to the interior of the recordv compartment 24v when desired. For the purpose of enabling the rear edge 27 of the coverv to exsel tend under the knife 23, the cover is made of two parts connected by a hinge 28.

When the strips 16, 17 and 18 are advanced by the annuli 15 and pressure roller 19, the strips 16 and 17 are issued through the space between the tear-off knife 23 and the end 27 of the cover, while the strip 18 is led under the end of the cover into the record compartment 24.

' The annuli 15 of the feeding mechanismv are 'secured to a shaft 29-having at its outer end a handle or crank 30, and when the crank is rotated the annuli 15 advance the strips until apertures 31 in the strips are entered by the annuli, whereupon further movement of the strips is discontinued. There is a pair of apertures 31 for each form, and hence rotation of the crank 30 will .advance each strip only one form length at each operation, irrespective of the length of throw of the crank or difference between the formlengths of the respective strips. To restart the strips to advance the forms which have just been written upon, a starting roller 32 by means not shown but well known inthe art, is caused to engage the strips and advance all of them until the apertures 31 are out of range of the annuli and the latter engage the strips. A suitable form of mechanism for carrying out these operations is disclosed in the -Shoup &`O1iver patent, No. 1,396,070.

Instead of merel)7 permitting the record strip 18 to fall by gravity into the record compartment 24 assisted by whatever impetus is given it by the yannuli 15 and pressure roller 19, the present inventionprovides an auxiliary device acting solely upon the record strip to impart vto it a downward thrust so that it will properly refold in the record compartment 24. This auxiliary device shown in this case is disclosed and claimed in the co ending application of F. Schultz, lSeria-l ho. 320,645, filed Nov. 20, 1928, and comprises a roller or shaft y33 journaled in the vside plates 10 in advance of the annuli 15 and located preferably in the same horizontal plane as theshaft 29. lThe auxiliary shaft 33 is provided with a pinion 34 meshing with a gear 3'5 yon the shaft 29 so as to be rotated concomitantly therewith. On this shaft 33 there is provided a pair of annuli 36 which engage the strip 18, the diameter of each of which is such that the yperipheral speed thereof is the same as that of thel feeding annuli 15, although the peripheral speed of the annuli 36 might be greater than that of the annuli l5, if desi-red.

The auxiliary annuli 36 are not in alignment with the annuli 15, and hence do not engagethe same. They are offset laterally a small amount -so that the strip 18 engages them Ayieldingly and according to the resiliency of the strip. c This arrangement makes it possible to use this auxiliary means for giving a downward impetus to the record strip 18 in a machine having a feed mechanism of the Shoup & Oliver type, so that the present mechanism when the strip ceases its movement because of the engagement of the feeding annuli 15 in the apertures 31, the drag produced by the auxiliary annuli 36 is not sufficient to cause the record strip to be advanced. If the annuli 36 were in longitudinal alignment and engagement with the feeding annuii 15, the strip 18 would not cease its movement upon the engagement of the annuli 15 with the apertures 31 during the continued rotation of the feed shaft 29 and the crank 30 but would continue due to the traction which would then exist between the auxiliary annuli 36 and the feeding annuli 15. Moreover', the device is self-accommodating in that the pressure between the strip and the auxiliary annuli 36 is greater when a stiff work sheet such as manila paper is used, and hence va greater downward impetus is given, as is needed, to the heavier Vand stiffer material.

In order to increase the traction between the record strip 18 and the annuli 36, it is preferable that the surface of the annuli be made of rubber or other tacky material, and this may be corrugated to increase the efiiv ciency of the device. l

The position of the refolded pack in the record Compartment is controlled and the operation of refolding facilitated by the provision of end walls or stops 42 and 43 in the record compartment, the end stop 42 constitutes the wall between the supply compartment 13 and the record compartment 24 and has a forward extension 44 curved around the starting mechanism so as to prevent the rec-l ord strip 18 from becoming caught thereon. rlfhe web-advancing means and the auxiliary annuli .are located in the compartment midway between tlie end walls 42 and 43 so that the strip will, with equal facility, bend either toward the' wall 42 or the wall 43, according to the direction in which the fold extends.

The front stop or wall 43 is pivotally mounted at 46 on the bottom 11 of the register, so that when the operators fingers engage it, when attempting to remove the record-strip stack, the stop 43 will yield forwardly and facilitate the entrance of the operators fingers.

To further facilitate this operation, the end wall 43 is provided with a right angle extension 45 normally lying parallel with the bottom 11 of the register and adapted to raise the record-strip stack therefrom to permit the insertion of the operators fingers when the front stop or wall 43 is moved forwardly by the fingers or `other part of the hand of the operator.

Heretofore, the strips 16, 13 and 18 were -introduced to the platen 12 over guide rollers, one of which was provided for each strip,.and

vwhich they were drawn.

above, it was found in practice that When the f strips Were allowed to remain in one position for a long period of time, for instance, over night, or under certain atmospheric conditions, the strips would become set or more or less permanently fixed in curled position Where it bent sharply around the guide roller and, consequently, would not properly and invariably act as intended in the record compartment 24. f

rlhis is avoided by the present invention by providing only one guide roller, the guide roller l? in the form of the invention shown herein, and located at the introductory side of the platen over which all of the strips pass, and allowing great freedom of movement between the strips behind the guide roller so that the strip or strips may take a natural curve or bend which is not at all sharp.

From this point, the strips 16, 17 and 18 es; tend onto the platen lf; to be interleaved with carbon strips 48 located transversely ofthe platen and supplied from a roll i9 on a spindle 50 mounted at one side of the machine (see Fig. 1).

ln order to keep the strips flat on the platen, the present invention provides a presser' plate 51 mounted on shaft 52 pivoted in the platen frame, and having tongues 51a bearing on the strips 16, 17 and 18 near the end of the platen 12. The presser plate y may be helddoivn by a spring, if desired, but in the present case 1t is made heavy enough so that its own .veight will cause the tongues 51a to engage the strips 16, 17 and 18 with the desired amount of pressure.

ln addition to the above function, the presser plate 51 alsol tends to smooth or straighten out the folds 53 in the strips so that the folded portions of the strips will properly pass the rear edges 5l of the carbon strips .Without being torn or tearing the carbon strips.

lt shouldbe understood that the presser plate 50 does not separate and tension the strips to vpermit the relative movement he tween the strips which is necessary to allow the strips to be aligned by the annular feed mechanism, but merely produces suiiicient drag or tension on the pile of strips to cause them to lie smoothly on the writing surface.

Preferably, the roller l? is so placed that the Writing surface of the platen is tangential with it, so that there is no tendency for the strips to catch on to the rear edge of the platen. It is alsov preferable thatthe rollerv be made of substantial dimensions so as to prevent any sharp crease or bend of the strips being formed tions.

Separating and tensioning is accomplished according to the present invention by means around it under any condi provided at thedelivery' end of the platen. lllhis means comprises a pressure device or roller 55 having trunnions 56 riding in slots 57 in brackets 58 secured tothe housing 22 for the pressure roller 19. This roller 55 is pressed downwardly by a spring 59 having bent portions' 60 conforming to, and engaging the top portion of the roller 55 While its ends 61 engage the top Walls of the slots The roller is so mounted that it engages the strips 16, 17' and 18 at portions thereof bef ltween which carbon stri J s 4S lie so that the carbon strips constitute the separating means to prevent one strip from uragging anothern and at the same time causing each individual strip to be tensioned, as a result of the downfard pressure of the roller 55 on the pileof strips.

This accomplished Without causing the underlying strips 1"? and 1S to be marked byha'ving the roller 55relatively wide so that the pressure is distributed over a considerable area of the strips and interleaved carbon strips Which would' not be the case if the presw sure Was applied to one or more spots or points.

lf desired, the modification shown in Fig. '5" may be employed. ln this case, the edge 51h of the plate 5l is'arranfj'ed to bear upon the portions of the strips supported by the roller .instead of those portions of the strips overlying the end of the platen. y

By having the portion (30 of the spring in engagement with the periphery of the roller 55, the rotation of the roller is slightly retai-ded.` thereby causing the uppermost strip 16 to be properly tensioned as well as separated; and to further facilitate this, the roller may be knul-led., as shown in Fig. l.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that even though the strips 16, 17 and 18 are properly separated and tonsioned, and are held tauton the pL ten. none of the means-used for these purposes would cause the strips to be permanently set ina sharp bend or curve.

ln connection with he features of this invention disclosed hereinfbutnot claimed, attention is caller to my copending application Serial No. (3231418, filed lrlay 2'1", 1933, which is, in part, a division of this application- Tw/'rari ations Vand modiiications may be made within the scope of this invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without'others. 1 Having thus described the inventiomvwhat 1s claimed as new and for which it desired to obtain Letters Patent, is: V

LA manifolding machine having a supply compartment; a platen over which a plurali'ty of worksheet strips is adapted to be fed and on which carbon strips are interleaved With the Worksheet strips; solely one guiding means at the `introductory side of the' platen over which all of thejstrips are led from the supply compartment to the platen;

CII

and a pressure device at the delivery side of the platen for pressing the worksheet strips and carbon strips together to cause the worksheets to be separately tensioned through the intermediary offthe carbon strips.

2. A manifolding machine having a supply compartment; a platen over which a plurality of worksheet strips is adapted to be fed and on which carbon strips are interleaved with the worksheet strips; and a pressure roller extending transversely across the platen and engaging portions of the worksheets which are over the carbon strips for rpressing the latter and the worksheet strips together to cause the worksheet strips to be separately tensioned through the intermediary of the carbon strips.

3. A manifolding machine having a supply compartment in which a pack of zig-Zag folded superposed worksheet strips is supported; a platen over which the strips are adapted to be fed and on which carbon strips are interleaved between the worksheet strips; means at the introductory side of the platen over which the worksheet strips are led en bloc from the pack in the supply compartment to the platen; means for engaging the pile of strips at a point where they lie upon the platen for pressing out the folds of the strips to permit the folded portions thereof to lpass the edges of the carbon strips without being torn by or tearing the carbon strips and a pressure device at the delivery side of the platen and overlying the portions of the worksheet strips where they are interleaved by the carbon strips for pressing the latter and the worksheet strips together to cause the worksheet strips to be separately tensioned through the intermediary of the carbon strips.

4. A manifolding machine having a supply compartment in which a pack of Zig-Zag folded superposed strips is supported; a platen over which the strips are adapted to be fed and on which carbon strips extend transversely between each two adjacent worksheet strips; solely one guiding means at the introductory side of the platen over which all of the worksheet strips are led from the supply compartment to the platen; means for engaging the pile of strips at a point where they lie upon the platen for pressing out the folds of the strips to permit the folded portions of the strips to pass the edges of the carbon strips without being torn by or tearing the latter; and a pressure device at the delivery side of the platen and overlying lportions of the worksheet strips where the carbon strips are located for pressing the latter and the carbon strips together to separately tension the worksheet strips.

5. A manifolding machine having a supply compartment in which a pack of zig-Zag folded superposed strips is supported; a platen over which the strips are adapted to be.

fed and on which carbon strips extend transversely between each two adjacent worksheet strips; a single guide roller at the introductory side of the platen over which all of the worksheet strips are led from the supply compartment to the platen' a plate for engaging the pile of strips at a point where they lie upon the platen for Ipressing out the folds of the strips to permit the folded portions of the strips to pass the vedges of the carbon strips without being torn by or tearing the latter; and a pressure roller at the delivery side of the platen extending transversely thereof and overlying portions of the worksheet strips where the carbon strips are located for pressing the latter and the worksheet strips together to separately tension the worksheet strips.

6. In a manifolding' machine having a platen over which is fed a plurality of work sheet strips; a frame for supporting the platen; a bar extending transversely across the frame; a pair of brac `:ets carried by said bar; a pressure roller having trunnions sup ported in slots in said brackets; and resilient means for urging the pressure roller toward the platen.

7. A manifolding machine having a platen over which a plurality of superposed workf' sheet strips 1s adapted to be fed; and means at the delivery side of the machine between which the pile of worksheet strips and interleaved, non-traveling transfer stripsl are forcibly pressed together to impart individually to each worksheet strip a predetermined tension through the intermediary of the transfer strips.

8. A manifolding machine havin@ a platen over which a plurality of superposed work- 1 sheet strips is adapted to be fed; and means at the delivery side of the machine between which the pile of worksheet strips and interleaved, non-traveling transfer strips are forcibly pressed together to impart individually to each worksheet strip a predetermined tension through the intermediary of the transfer strips; said means'including a pressure roller adapted to engage directly the outermost of the worksheet strips.

9. A manifolding machine having a platen; l

means at the delivery side of the platen for feeding a plurality of superposed worksheet strips thereover; and means at the delivery side of the machine between which the part of worksheet strips and interleaved nontraveling transfer strips are forcibly pressed together to impart individually to leach worksheet strip a predetermined tension through the intermediary of the transfer strips; said last rnamed means comprising a pressure roller rearwardly offset from said feeding means.

l0. A manifolding machine having a platen over which a plurality of superposed worksheet strips is adapted to be fed; and

interposed non-traveling strips are forcibly pressed together to impart individually to each worksheet strip a predetermined tension through the intermediary of the interposed strips, said means including a pressure roller engaging the outermost of said worksheet i strips.

Signed at Hoboken, in the county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, this 10th day of June, 1930.

WILLIAM G. BORCHERS. 

